Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama

Last Year's Nominees:

Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"

Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"

Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"

Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"

Hugh Laurie, "House"

Timothy Olyphant, "Justified"

Attrition: It still makes me happy that Coach Taylor won an Emmy last year. He won't be back this year, which is convenient because three-time winner Bryan Cranston returns. How much shaking up will this category have beyond that, though? Always one of the most competitive on Emmy night, the Lead Actor category has several new faces who, in many years, would be locks for nominations, but this year will have to push out some formidable foes. As you'll see, I had no trouble with the top four nominees, but then it came down to two slots for four actors and I'm not confident I made the right picks at all.

Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Such a tough category. While supporting actor is obviously a lot deeper, this category is just really sad to look at. Thinking of the characters of Dr. House, Dexter Morgan and particularly Don freaking Draper never getting one of these trophies is kind of depressing. In terms of the winner, I've gotta think Cranston makes it four for four considering Kyle Chandler was the one to win the award on his ineligible year, he's in all the movies these days, and as a distant third in terms of things that matter to Emmy voters, he continues to give the best performance on television. Also, glad to see Charlie Hunnam get some recognition even if his actual Emmy chances are nil. He was on my personal ballot this year as my final choice after Cranston, Hamm, Lewis, Olyphant, and Buscemi. For all of the trouble Sons of Anarchy had this season at times, Hunnam's Jax was really pretty excellent throughout. But that's always the thing with Sons of Anarchy, the show never really rises (outside of season 2) to the level of Sagal, Hunnam, Siff, Hurst, and Pearlman's superlative performances.

Hmmm...this is a tough one. I'm torn...I really want Hugh Laurie to get it. But Hamm and Cranston are so deserving. I wonder if Hamm's chances are helped by his visibility...He made more SNL appearances than Justin Timberlake!!

You know, I thought of Nathan Fillion. Castle is my fluff show of choice, and I really, really enjoy his performance. He carries that show and does it joyfully. But I'm pretty sure Emmy voters do not care about People's Choice awards...

I think you're probably mistaken about Hugh Laurie being a lock. House may or may not be an iconic role (I've never been a fan, but I concede the show's popularity), but I suspect that Laurie, Hall, and (unfortunately) Olyphant will have to make room for the shiny new things. If it comes down to Laurie or Hoffman for the last spot, I'm going to bet that most voters will be #TeamRizzo.

I'd have to imagine Bryan Cranston would get it. He just absolutely becomes Walter White. I could say the same for Jon Hamm. Hugh Laurie is great, however I think he honestly suffers from being a great character on a show that was not very compelling, particularly at the end. I would say the same for Michael Hall and Dexter.

I would cast my vote for Jason Isaacs though. That's even with my unabashed love of some of the other actors in this list. I'm not sure I would say he did BETTER than Bryan Cranston or Jon Hamm. Flip a coin or roll a dice for that one. However, the show did tragically worse than the great content of the show, and at the end of it Isaacs was amazing. He definitely deserves the nomination, no question. As an aside, if you haven't seen Awake, you really owe it to yourself. And Terriers for that matter. I feel almost contractually obligated to mention them both in the same breath.

I still need to finish Awake, which I massively enjoyed while watching, but I'm commenting mainly to just second your Terriers love. That was a fantastic show & yet so few people, even those that watch a lot of good television, are even aware that it once existed. In my book it's second to only Freaks and Geeks for one season wonders.

My pick is Bryan Cranston. He's not just an actor playing Walter White---he is Walter White. From his frantic plea with Gus in Box Cutter, delusions about being "the one who knocks," and of course his maniacal laughter in Crawl Space, he has managed to outperform his season 3 performance, which is saying something.

I wouldn't be too upset to see Damien Lewis, Jon Hamm, or Tim Olyphant get recognized, though I don't think any of them were better than Cranston.

I think Dustin Hoffman is quite likely to get a nomination because...well he's Dustin Hoffman. His work was solid, but I think it would be a shame if he did as he definitely wasn't a Top-6 guy from the past year, and for most of the time on Luck, for me, he wasn't near the top of that pile in terms of performances.

I also think it will be a minor travesty if Laurie gets nominated over Hall. Both are terrific, but Hall had to do way, way, way more heavy lifting of atrocious material on his show.

Damian Lewis deserves a shot, fingers crossed for him.

Jason Isaacs was just ridiculously good. This was my first real exposure to him and I was blown away.

Also, though obviously nowhere near the top, I thought Ted Danson did an exceptional job breathing new life into CSI.

Your arguments against Timothy Olyphant being nominated a 2nd time do not hold water. And similar arguments were made against Kyle Chandler's 2nd deserved nomination last year ... and see how it worked out for him? (BTW, Chandler wasn't nominated for GG's either and was ignored by all the award shows for years.)

I hope to see Olyphant's name on the announcement list and the show nominated as well. IMO, Justified is currently THE best, most entertaining show on television. I'm not a fan of violence unless it also has a few laughts.

Dolphin - I'm not really sure why they don't hold water, but I'm glad you like Timothy Olyphant and "Justified." I still think there's a very strong chance of him being nominated, I just went with my gut out of that group of four. The arguments absolutely hold water. But the arguments in his favor may just end up being stronger.

And you're wrong about the same arguments being used on Kyle Chandler, who I had as a No Doubt nominee last year.